This Application is related to Application Ser. No. 805,801, for A Document Feeder For A Copier, filed June 13, 1977 in the name of the present inventors and a third inventor, i.e., Robert E. Manna, and assigned to the same assignee as the present Application.
As shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,998,542, issued Dec. 21, 1976 to John A. Toto et al, many of such copiers are provided with well-known means for flash illuminating a document, placed by the operator at the copier's document illuminating station, typically a glass platen, to expose the photoreceptor with light modulated by the graphic information on the document; whereupon, the photoreceptor selectively conducts to form the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor. Due to the photoreceptor being extremely light sensitive and high intensity light being utilized for flash illumination, imaging occurs on the order of ten (10) milliseconds or less. It is therefore desirable to equip the copier with a document feeder to permit the operator to take advantage of the rapidity with which copies can be made. One of the long standing problems in the prior art resides in the provision of such a document feeder which can handle documents that are of different thickness and diversely calendered.
Application Ser. No. 805,801, referred to above, provides structure for solving the aforesaid problem, whereas the present Application provides an alternate solution to the same problem. Accordingly:
AN OBJECT OF THE PRESENT INVENTION IS TO PROVIDE A SIMPLY CONSTRUCTED DOCUMENT FEEDER FOR A COPIER OF THE TYPE WHICH UTILIZES FLASH ILLUMINATING MEANS FOR MAKING COPIES OF A DOCUMENT, INCLUDING APPARATUS FOR RELIABLY FEEDING DOCUMENTS OF DIFFERENT THICKNESS WHICH ARE RESPECTIVELY DIFFERENTLY CALENDERED; AND
ANOTHER OBJECT IS TO PROVIDE SUCH A DOCUMENT FEEDER WITH INSTRUMENTALITIES INSURING POSITIVE ENGAGEMENT OF THE FEEDING APPARATUS WITH EACH RESPECTIVE DOCUMENT IN RESPONSE TO INSERTION OF THE RESPECTIVE DOCUMENTS INTO FEEDING RELATIONSHIP WITH RESPECT TO THE FEEDING APPARATUS.